


Paindeal

by Ocimi



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Animal Attack, Animal Death, Hurt Arthur Morgan, not a cougar, panther
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23382490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ocimi/pseuds/Ocimi
Summary: It wasn't all that unusual for Arthur to show back up at camp covered in blood, usually though it wasn't his.orHow the curious couple, Susan and John all react to animal wounds.
Relationships: Arthur Morgan & Dutch van der Linde, Hosea Matthews & Arthur Morgan, Hosea Matthews & Arthur Morgan & Dutch van der Linde
Comments: 1
Kudos: 94





	Paindeal

"Jesus Arthur! You look like a murdering physcopath!" Grimshaw gasped out watching as Mr. Morgan walked through camp, a panther pelt slung over his shoulder. He grunted as he passed her, but said nothing.

"Arthur! What? Oh, uh, thanks..." Pearson near jumped six feet in the air as Arthur threw the body of a panther on his butcher table, he watched Arthur turn and walk angrily away. It was then he noticed the claw marks down his back, and light teeth marks on his neck. Before he could say anything Dutch walked out of his tent.

"What the hell? Arthur what happened?" There was almost concern in his voice, Arthur thought.

"Hunting."

"I can see that, clearly. What did you get? A cougar?" Dutch was obviously sarcastic but he wasn't that far off.

"Panther. Snuck up on me." Arthur passed Dutch and now the older man had a full view of the damage done by the beast. Somehow he wasn't surprised with the luck his son had. Three long claw marks pulsed blood from his shoulder, a little away from there three more marks along his spine. He had light puncture wounds on his neck, luckily it seemed Arthur managed to throw the beast before its teeth got anything major but it was still concerning. Dutch moved to follow Arthur, waving over Hosea as he went.

"Dear god, Arthur, what did you do?" Hosea near choked on his gasp as he saw his son. Arthur looked annoyed now.

"Look, alright? It snuck up on me, spooked my horse." Arthur glared in the general direction of the flighty walker he had picked up all those months ago in Colter. He had other horses but he was trying to cycle through so each one bonded with him. He wasn't expecting to see a panther, didn't even know Lemoyne had panthers.

"Well, are you alright? We... should fix those up." Hosea beckoned Grimshaw over now who was in the midst of talking to Mary-beth. She rolled her eyes at them before bustling over. She nearly said something before Arthur held his hands up.

"Listen I don't need a fuss, I'll be fine. I just need to go wash up." Arthur had wrongfully assumed most of the blood was the panthers, when really he was so pumped up on adrenaline he couldn't feel the severity of the wounds yet. Hosea met eyes with Grimshaw first, then Dutch.

"...Arthur I don't think that the blood is the panthers, son. Let us, at least Hosea, help you." Dutch tried to sound gentle, really he did, but nurturing wasn't really his style and it was obvious even to him. He watched as Arthur tensed up and cursed himself inside.

"I don't need help." Arthur growled, eyes now fully ablaze. Dutch held his hands up in surrender before looking to the other two. 

"Look, I need to stitch the cuts at least, so wash up then come right to me." Hosea wasn't afraid of pissing Arthur off if it was for his own good. Susan reached forward and grabbed Arthur's arm and yanked him towards the wash bins. She was not one to be afraid of anyone, especially not Arthur. She had seem him ill, hurt, and weak and knew well enough he put a front up to keep the other gang members off his back. He followed behind barely protesting as the pain started to set in.

"Hosea, bring the stitching supplies, Dutch we are gonna need a strong drink for this." Susan ordered the men easily about, not one bit worried about backlash from the two men. They both nodded and went to grab what she needed as she peeled Arthur's bloody and torn jacket off his shoulders watching as he winced when the cuts were pulled. Blood pulsed out and ran down his shirt, which Susan also ordered he took off. He hesistated before sighing and unbuttoning the blue shirt and peeling it off with effort. His breath hitched as the pain fully hit him then.

"Jesus Christ Morgan! You're all skin and bones! Have you not been eating?" Susan demanded, now a tad worried. Arthur hunched over.

"Ya I know." His voice came out harsher then he intended but he already knew he was ugly and a disgrace there was no need for her to bring it up. He mistook her concern for judgement. Dutch arrived then handing Arthur a rather fancy looking whisky, watching as the boy opened it and took a rather long swig.

"Jesus!" Arthur grunted as the beverage burned down his throat, leaving him feeling warm. He took another swig and finally, blissfully, the painful edge started to wear down. Dutch pried the bottle away from Arthur before he could go for another swig, giving him a meaningful look.

"We don't need you drunk, son, just... less on edge." Arthur blinked up at him, a sarcastic smile slowly grew on his lips.

"Sure," He drawled. "The edge of being bucked off your horse then attacked by a goddamn panther." He turned to see Hosea walking over, needle in hand. His breathing accerlerated.

"Dutch... hold him!" Hosea ordered, predicting Arthur would try to stand up. Arthur did try, but Dutch was easily able to hold his shoulders down. A groan of annoyance came from the unruly boy.

"Come on now son, Let Hosea patch you up." Dutch chided, as though he was talking to a boy which shot a tinge of annoyance into Arthur chest. Hosea waved Susan away who went to tend to the girls. He made his way to Arthurs back, taking a handful of water and throwing it onto his spine, watching as his back twitched and he hissed. To their credit neither Dutch or Arthur flinched as Hosea started his work on one of the claw marks. 

"You've always been better then me at that, I was never a good student." Dutch chuckled, watching Hosea's old but skilled hands work. Hosea laughed.

"Yes well, you were always the lecturer and I was always the nurturer." Dutch hummed agreeing thinking about the old days. 

"Remember when John came back to camp hiding the bullet wound and you, Arthur, had to throw him over you shoulder just to get it looked at? Dutch spent half an hour lecturing the boy. Thought the kid was gonna die of boredom." Hosea chuckled now, as Dutch scoffed. 

"How could I forget. Half an hour on bullet wound care, and I wasn't even shot!" Arthur grinned through the fog in his brain. He could almost picture young John banging his head against the tree as Hosea worked on clearing the wound. John was never one for using his brain he thought, glancing over and seeing said man sitting at a table nursing a beer. A tug and a flash of pain made him yelp, causing John to look over and smirk.

"Wolf for me, panther for you, now we both won't live it down." John smirked. Arthur merely rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored his brother. Once the painful process of stitching the claw marks was done Hosea turned his attention to the light puncture marks.

"Those should be just bandaged. Here, take this tonic and go rest some." Hosea said, wrapping a bandage around Arthur's neck. (Little did they know it would become almost unsurprising to see Arthur with a bandage around his neck... he did have the worst goddamn luck.)

Arthur hummed, downed the tonic and slunk to his bed to feel sorry for himself. Dutch put a hand on Hosea's shoulder looking around and the happy camp.

"This is nice." And Hosea had to agree.

**Author's Note:**

> Paindeal is allegedly the Scottish Gaelic word for panther, so on my quest to complete the game 100% I ended up at camp covered in blood and both Mary-beth and Grimshaw had something to say which... kinda inspired me? Dutch just fished and questioned Javier's loyalty then mine, lol... anyway I'm not a great writer but I am having fun so, criticism is always okay just be nice :)


End file.
